Willingdon Heights was another new subdivision developed in Burnaby during the post-World War Two building boom. A brochure about the development published in 1948 proclaimed "the Willingdon Heights 500 home development project in Burnaby fulfills its promise to provide a self-contained community for former members of the armed services and their families...the largest single veteran housing project in Canada as far as homes for individual ownership is concerned, Willingdon Heights development was planned by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation...At this date the earlier built rows of homes have passable roads and the owners are improving lawns and gardens in spare time...eventually additional stores and professional services will be installed and recreational projects will add to the amenities of a community of congenial residents..."
Photograph of Mary Ada Bingham standing in front of a giant tree stump in Willingdon Heights which was to be cleared for a veterans' housing project in 1948. According to an accompanying note prepared by Burnaby Village Museum, and supported by the inscription on the photograph, Ada Bingham came to…
Inscribed in black ballpoint pen, on the back of the photo: "Ada and Big Stump / Clearing time on Willingdon Heights / 1948. / Burnaby 2. B. C" and in blue ballpoint pen: "Mrs. Mary Ada Bingham / 1 Real Pioneer Wife; she helped me clear the land. Build our home, dig out well and worked for the community for nearly 50 years. She died August 9, 1969 / Alf Bingham."
Scope and Content
Photograph of Mary Ada Bingham standing in front of a giant tree stump in Willingdon Heights which was to be cleared for a veterans' housing project in 1948. According to an accompanying note prepared by Burnaby Village Museum, and supported by the inscription on the photograph, Ada Bingham came to Burnaby to homestead with her husband, Alfred "Alf" Bingham, in 1919. They settled in the Lochdale district of North Burnaby but later moved to Parker Street.
1 photograph : b&w ; 3.2 x 5.3 cm print on contact sheet 20.2 x 25.3 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of the intersection of Boundary Road and Hastings Street facing east from the southwest corner. A streetcar has a sign advertising Victory Bonds.
1 photograph : b&w ; 3.2 x 5.3 cm print on contact sheet 20.2 x 25.3 cm
Description Level
Item
Record No.
370-229
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
BHS1999-03
Scope and Content
Photograph of the intersection of Boundary Road and Hastings Street facing east from the southwest corner. A streetcar has a sign advertising Victory Bonds.
Photograph of a man operating a bulldozer clearing a forested hill. There appears to be a backhoe on the other side of the hill of fallen and upturned trees. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photograph: "342X."
Photograph of a man operating a bulldozer clearing a forested hill. There appears to be a backhoe on the other side of the hill of fallen and upturned trees. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photograph: "342X."
Photograph of an unidentified man operating a bulldozer and clearing the lot. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photograph: "345L."
Photograph of an unidentified man operating a bulldozer and clearing the lot. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photograph: "345L."
Photograph of a large cleared lot with two houses built apart from each other. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that the photograph depicts the development of one of Burnaby's streets, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photo: "657X."
Photograph of a large cleared lot with two houses built apart from each other. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that the photograph depicts the development of one of Burnaby's streets, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photo: "657X."
Photograph of a clearing in the foreground and houses under construction in the background. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photographs: "021X."
Photograph of a clearing in the foreground and houses under construction in the background. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photographs: "021X."
11 plans on 8 sheets : col. lithographic print ; 64 x 54 cm
Scope and Content
Item consists of fire insurance plans titled "Greater Vancouver / Volume XV / Municipality / of Burnaby" surveyed May 1927 and revised October 1940. Volume XV includes a two page Key Plan (A and B) identifying associated plan numbers and district lots and nine numbered fire insurance plans identifi…
11 plans on 8 sheets : col. lithographic print ; 64 x 54 cm
Material Details
Scales between [1:600] and [1:6000]
Scope and Content
Item consists of fire insurance plans titled "Greater Vancouver / Volume XV / Municipality / of Burnaby" surveyed May 1927 and revised October 1940. Volume XV includes a two page Key Plan (A and B) identifying associated plan numbers and district lots and nine numbered fire insurance plans identified as; 1507; 1508 ; 1517; 1518; 1519; 1520;1521; 1531and 1532.
These plans are contained within a bound book with labels on cover page reading: "Plan No. 90 / THIS INSURANCE PLAN / of / Vancouver VOLUME "8" / IN THE PROPERTY OF THE / British Columbia Insurance Underwriter's Association / Vancouver B.C. / AND IS LOANED / MELVILLE F. THOMSON CO. .../ Date May 26th, 1934"; / "Plan No. 74 / THIS INSURANCE PLAN / OF / VANCOUVER VOLUME "9"" / Plan No. 11 / THIS INSURANCE PLAN / OF / BURNABY VOLUMES 15-19" / "THIS PLAN IS THE PROPERTY OF / THE / BRITISH LAW INSURANCE COMPANY / LIMITED"
Fire insurance plans cover various district lots in Burnaby including: District Lot 116,121, 186 and 187.
Sticker adhered to Key Plan B reads: "
Contact Burnaby Village Museum to view fire insurance plans that are part of Volume XV
Photograph of a row of houses being built along a road lined with electric posts. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street scene from Burnaby, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision.
Photograph of a row of houses being built along a road lined with electric posts. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street scene from Burnaby, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision.
This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
Date Range
1910-1946
Photo Info
Elsie Brown-John (bottom, far right) with her class at Kitchener Street School, [1936]. Item no. 549-001.
Recording is an interview with early Burnaby resident Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, September 18, 2012. Major themes discussed are: settling in Burnaby and the early years of the Brown-John family.
Biographical Notes
Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell’s father, a trained carpenter and cabinet maker, Victor Brown-John came to Canada from Wales in 1910. He cleared three lots at Napier and Gilmore Streets and built a two-roomed house. In 1912, he was joined by his wife and two eldest sons, Victor and Archie. Twin boys, Frank and Roy, were born in 1914 in the Burnaby home and their fifth son, Clive, was born in 1915.
From 1916 to 1919 Victor John-Brown left Burnaby to serve overseas. Elsie Brown-John (later Ansdell) was born in 1921. Her younger brother, Gwyn "Jerry" was born in 1923.
In 1925 Victor Brown-John suffered a fatal accident while working as a longshoreman in Northern British Columbia.
Elsie attended Kitchener Elementary and North Burnaby High School. She married during the Second World War and moved to South Burnaby to raise her family whilst continuing to work in various department stores both in Vancouver and Burnaby.
Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed master’s and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. In 2012, Eric worked for the City of Burnaby as a field researcher and writer, conducting interviews for the City Archives and Museum Oral History Program.
Photograph of an unidentified man, possibly the operator, is standing on a bulldozer belonging to "Holmes & Wilson Trucking". Lumber stacks are nearby, and the bulldozer is on a clearing for a house lot. This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on bac…
Photograph of an unidentified man, possibly the operator, is standing on a bulldozer belonging to "Holmes & Wilson Trucking". Lumber stacks are nearby, and the bulldozer is on a clearing for a house lot. This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photo: "342X."
Photograph of an unidentified man standing on a bulldozer belonging to "Wm. Edstrom" as written on the machine. The bulldozer is on a clearing nearby houses. This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of the photograph: "342X."
Photograph of an unidentified man standing on a bulldozer belonging to "Wm. Edstrom" as written on the machine. The bulldozer is on a clearing nearby houses. This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of the photograph: "342X."
Photograph of an unidentified man standing on a bulldozer. The bulldozer is on a cleared lot, behind which houses and electric posts along a road can be seen. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on the back of the photograph: "345L."
Photograph of an unidentified man standing on a bulldozer. The bulldozer is on a cleared lot, behind which houses and electric posts along a road can be seen. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on the back of the photograph: "345L."
Photograph of members of the Knight family (left to right) Naida Hansen (nee Knight), Dolly Walker-Kirkwood (nee Knight), Fred Knight and Lila McKinley (nee Knight) and Margaret Norton (nee Knight) (cut off). The group have their arms around each other and are standing under a willow tree in the ya…
Photograph of members of the Knight family (left to right) Naida Hansen (nee Knight), Dolly Walker-Kirkwood (nee Knight), Fred Knight and Lila McKinley (nee Knight) and Margaret Norton (nee Knight) (cut off). The group have their arms around each other and are standing under a willow tree in the yard of the family home at 931 Gilmore Avenue.
4 plans on 4 sheets: col. lithographic prints ; 63.5 x 53.5 cm folded to 53 x 31.5 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of four pages of plans removed from a bound book containing a series of fire insurance plans of the Municipality of Burnaby. Plan "1518" and "1519" are from "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XV / Municipality of Burnaby / May, 1927". Plan "1518" covers District Lot 116 and Plan "1519"…
4 plans on 4 sheets: col. lithographic prints ; 63.5 x 53.5 cm folded to 53 x 31.5 cm
Material Details
Scale [1:600]
Scope and Content
File consists of four pages of plans removed from a bound book containing a series of fire insurance plans of the Municipality of Burnaby. Plan "1518" and "1519" are from "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XV / Municipality of Burnaby / May, 1927". Plan "1518" covers District Lot 116 and Plan "1519" covers District Lot 121. Plan "1802" and plan "1803" are from "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVIII / Municipality of Burnaby / May, 1927". Both plans "1802" and "1803" cover District Lot 153.
Photograph of a paved road running through a cleared lot. There is an electric post on the roadside, and woods in the background. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street development in Burnaby, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Annotation o…
Photograph of a paved road running through a cleared lot. There is an electric post on the roadside, and woods in the background. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street development in Burnaby, ca. 1948. This may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Annotation on lower right front of photograph: "26." Stamped on back of photograph: "321X."
Photograph of an unidentified labourer standing by stacks of lumber at a sawmill. Another man is seen working behind him. Stamped on back of the photograph reads: "657X." This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision.
Photograph of an unidentified labourer standing by stacks of lumber at a sawmill. Another man is seen working behind him. Stamped on back of the photograph reads: "657X." This may be related to the construction of the Willingdon Heights subdivision.
Photograph of a row of house being built along a road lined with electric posts. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street scene from Burnaby, possibly Kitchener Street and Gilmore Avenue, ca. 1948. Ths may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of…
Photograph of a row of house being built along a road lined with electric posts. Catalogue information from 1976 indicates that it is a street scene from Burnaby, possibly Kitchener Street and Gilmore Avenue, ca. 1948. Ths may be the site of the Willingdon Heights subdivision. Stamped on back of photo: "328X."